So you’re ready to start a blog, or you need to revamp your website blog to drive more traffic. Well, the good news is that there are a few tech tools you can employ to do just that. Many of these tech-minded tools come in the form of WordPress plugins. And these plugins can make a big impact for 2020.
If you are going to create a new blog, there are a few quick tips to get out of the way, such as:
- Robust list of keywords
- Detailed content schedule
- List of publications to net backlinks from
- And a user friendly WordPress blog page
These are just a few of the must-have basics when first creating a new blog. There are definitely more features to implement, and that’s where WordPress plugins come in.
The following five WordPress plugins for your blog may be just what the blogging doctor ordered for 2020. Let’s take a closer look.
1. Simple Social Share
One of the most essential parts to blogging is getting people to share your content with others. This can have a big time impact on how well a post does, and how much traffic it drives to your website. Simple Social Share is a WordPress plugin that makes sharing your blog posts easier with hard to miss social sharing buttons.
This plugin is easy to implement and easy to configure as well. You can select what social buttons to appear and hide buttons you’re not so crazy about. There is even a short code developers can use to easily code into each blog or sidebar widgets.
2. Author Bio Box
Whether you’re writing every blog post yourself, or have a number of outsourced bloggers at your fingertips, it is important to give credit where credit is due. This is why the Author Bio Box is a great WordPress plugin for your blog.
Adding an author bio is also excellent to add credentials that make each blog more authoritative. For example, Dr. Smith talking about the side effects of CBD probably holds more weight with readers than a generic “posted by Tom” does. The Author Bio Box is also great for sharing posts socially (see number one).
3. Dreamgrow Scroll Triggered Box
Once you entice someone online to click on your blog post, you most likely want them to take an action of some kind. Most aim for a subscriber email to use for remarketing. The Dreamgrow Scroll Triggered Box makes this happen in a very user friendly way.
When a user scrolls to a certain point on the blog, it will trigger a popup box with a call to action of your choosing. For instance, if you want to trade a whitepaper or ebook for an email, the popup box will tell the reader all about it. It’s a pretty great way to convert a reader into a potential customer.
4. Yoast SEO
How search engine optimized are your blog posts? Well, if you want to know, you should definitely consider using the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin. Yoast SEO is the top WordPress plugin in use, and for good reason. You simply write your blog and then check to see what may be missing, like keywords for example.
There are other SEO tidbits you get with Yoast as well, such as not using enough subheaders, not having keywords in the title and URL, or having too many run-on sentences in your post altogether. Yoast SEO takes a lot of the optimization guesswork out of the equation.
5. Wordfence Security
Most popular blogs will fall victim to hackers at some point. This can have a negative impact on your blog, website, and overall business, depending on the severity of the cyberattack. Wordfence Security can help prevent that. They provide firewall and malware scanners built specifically for WordPress websites. In the age of so many cyberattacks, added security is nothing but beneficial.
In Conclusion . . .
The above top five blog plugins for WordPress are great for creating or growing your blog and business in 2020. They are easy to implement and can serve useful, from SEO to making site security a priority. What plugins are you using? If the above are not on your list, it may be time to consider them. And of course, if you’d like to get a little bit more help, learn how to start an online business blog here.